# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 235
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4681 "2026-05-19T18:11:55Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Alois was a common German name in my grandfather’s generation Before I forget: **[Dr. Alzheimer](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Alzheimer)**, the one of the eponimous illness, was an Alois. And he was born in **[Marktbreit am Main](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marktbreit)** which is indeed in Bavaria. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4682 "2026-05-19T18:13:20Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Before I forget: **[Dr. Alzheimer](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Alzheimer)** ISWYDT… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4683 "2026-05-19T21:06:50Z")
I tried looking up if “Zheimer” was a known surname so that someone could be named Al Zheimer, but apparently not. The etymology was originally Alzheim-er, someone from the Bavarian village of Alzheim. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4684 "2026-05-19T21:39:25Z")
From the Census files (I forget if it is 2010 or 2020 census): OPPENHEIMER HEIMER MISENHEIMER BERKHEIMER WEINHEIMER GUMMERSHEIMER WERTHEIMER DEXHEIMER MEISENHEIMER KELSHEIMER GEGENHEIMER THEIMER DAHLHEIMER SEILHEIMER HEIMERDINGER HERBOLSHEIMER HOLZHEIMER HOFHEIMER BILLHEIMER ALSHEIMER SWICKHEIMER SONTHEIMER OSTHEIMER LOVENSHEIMER HERPOLSHEIMER WINDSHEIMER THALHEIMER REINHEIMER LEIPHEIMER ELSHEIMER BODENHEIMER ALTHEIMER WEIDENHEIMER VEITENHEIMER SONDHEIMER ODENHEIMER MELSHEIMER MANNHEIMER LAUBERSHEIMER KOTHEIMER HEIMERL EPPERHEIMER BECKELHEIMER There is only one IE instead of EI: HIEMER Three of those caught my eyes immediately: Alsheimer, Altheimer, and Holzheimer Is that close enough? Personally, I like the Misenheimer. It sounds a lot like Wizenheimer. As for male names starting with Al that are not last names: ALBERT ALAN ALLEN ALFRED ALEXANDER ALEX ALVIN ALLAN ALFREDO ALBERTO ALEJANDRO ALFONSO ALTON AL ALONZO ALI ALVARO ALEXIS ALPHONSO ALVA ALPHONSE ALDO ALDEN ALFONZO ALEC ALONSO For what it’s worth, “Al” is the 435th most common male name in that census. To make the lists above, the name had to appear at least 100 times in that census. Four local families in my community of about 35 people have last names that don’t appear on the census. In one of the families, I think that I have probably met everyone in the US with that last name. Searching on the Internet finds only one person with that last name who is not in the US. At least three of the early settlers who didn’t remain had names not on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4685 "2026-05-19T21:45:35Z")
Heim is cognate with the English Ham or Hamlet: a small village. So of course it appears frequently as part of a place name. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4686 "2026-05-19T22:04:39Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The Greek letter XI is used similarly. Um, if XI is legal, is Mu legal too? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4687 "2026-05-19T22:05:45Z")
Mu is a legal Scrabble word. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4688 "2026-05-19T22:09:41Z")
Honestly, who controls this? Is there an official Scrabble dictionary? It must be more voluminous and kept updated faster than any other dictionary. And this for every language in which the game is distributed. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4689 "2026-05-19T22:12:39Z")
Of course: > **[Scrabble Dictionary - Check the Official Scrabble Dictionary | Play Scrabble](https://playscrabble.com/dictionary)** > > Check your word in the Official Scrabble Dictionary and determine if your letters make an accepted Scrabble Dictionary word! For every language you can play. Check the flag for German. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4690 "2026-05-19T22:14:11Z")
Without having clicked the link: Mind blown! My question was rather hypothetical, I’d never thought there were such dictionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4691 "2026-05-19T22:17:54Z")
If I understand that right, there are professional Scrabble tournaments and players. Where there is money & egos involved there must be a referee and an undisputed autority to refer to. This seems to be it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4692 "2026-05-19T22:19:34Z")
Ah, this is the level when a game stops being fun. I’d rather have a familial discussion about “Schwanzhund” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4693 "2026-05-19T22:23:02Z")
**[Schwanzhund](https://playscrabble.com/dictionary/schwanzhund)**? Wort nicht gefunden. Official answer with a sad emoji. I also stopped playing decades ago. But I would have loved to debate Schwanzhund with your family. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4694 "2026-05-19T22:25:12Z")
Yeah, the official rules for Scrabble just say that the players have to all agree on a dictionary. And for kitchen-table play, that works fine. But for a tournament, there has to be some dictionary that’s the one everyone agrees to by entering. The game company doesn’t actually decide what makes it into the official Scrabble dictionary. Rather, they have a list of about eight standard dictionaries that they draw from, and it’s based on what those dictionaries accept (IIRC, it has to be in at least two of them, but it might just be one). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4695 "2026-05-19T22:25:42Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > But I would have loved to debate Schwanzhund with your family. No it wasn’t my family 😄, but Paul Winkelmann’s (Loriot) aunt Mechthild in “Ödipussi”. > **[Ödipussi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96dipussi)** > > Ödipussi is a 1988 West German comedy film, written and directed by and also starring Loriot. It was the first of two feature films he directed, the other one being Pappa Ante Portas. The title is a pun on the Oedipus complex described by Sigmund Freud and the nickname "Pussi", the way the main protagonist is called by his mother throughout the film. Rumors that the title might also be a reference to the James Bond film Octopussy have been denied by Loriot. > Paul Winkelmann runs the family's fu... [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-7pFDPMs4EU/maxresdefault.jpg "Schwanzhund") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7pFDPMs4EU) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4696 "2026-05-19T22:32:10Z")
Oh mein Gott! I am getting the impression that now, as I am getting old myself, I might finally find that film funny after all. ETA to nitpick: That sketch is cheating, BTW. You only have seven letters to play with, so you can either play “NASE” or “SCHWANZ” on “HUND”, but not both. That is one letter too much. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4697 "2026-05-19T22:32:38Z")
My Scrabble dictionary is old, now. Is _ **qat** _ still legal? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4698 "2026-05-19T22:40:46Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Um, if XI is legal, is Mu legal too? And Nu and Pi ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4699 "2026-05-19T22:41:31Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Heim is cognate with the English Ham or Hamlet: a small village. So of course it appears frequently as part of a place name. And also cognate to English _home_. The “Alz” is cognate to English _all_. So, _Alzheim_ is equivalent to “all’s home”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4700 "2026-05-19T23:22:17Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > My Scrabble dictionary is old, now. Is _ **qat** _ still legal? Sure nuff > **[QAT Scrabble® Word Finder](https://scrabble.merriam.com/finder/qat)** > > 3 Playable Words can be made from Qat: at, ta, qat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=234) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=236)